Monday, November 25, 2013

I really love the spell crafting rules for Amazing adventures. They has become my preferred spell casting rules for both Amazing Adventures and Castles & crusades. I have been playing around with those rules for a bit now. Trying a few house rules to add to them.

The very first thing I added was the rule of 5. Any spell craft roll that is five over its intended target will only cost the characters 1/2 the MEP needed to cast the spell. The character cannot attempt the roll unless he has enough MEP to cast the spell normally.

My second addition to the rules is that any arcanist over the level of 5 can cast 0 level spells at the cost of 0 MEP. A spell crafting roll is still made as normal. but MEP is never spent. And this level the arcanist is skilled enough that most 0 level spells are muscle memory and so elementary they are at little if not no risk to the arcanist.

For my third house rule, on any spellcraft roll of a natural 1 the arcanist has made a critical error in his channeling of the spell being cast. The arcanist loses double the amount of MEP as the cost of the spell, the spell fails, and the character loses hit points equal to the level of the spell. The flip side is also true, on a natural 20 on a spellcraft roll the character casts the spell at a cost of 0 MEP, And through a surge of power gains MEP equal to twice the level of the spell not to exceed his maximum MEP.

This final rule is only available after level five. The arcanist may choose to "push" a spell that scales. For example a spell that does 1d6 dmg per arcanist level. The arcanist can choose to cast the spell as if it were 1-3 levels higher than he is. Each "pushed" level adds a CL of 2 per level rather than 1. The MEP cost will be equal to the final level of the spell plus levels it was pushed plus one.

For example an arcanist is casting a spell that is level 3 that does 1d6 damage per level of the caster. The situation is dire so the arcanist decides to "push" his power up three levels. Making his spell as if cast by a level 6 arcanist. The CL of the spellcraft roll would be 3 + 6 +1. Three for the normal casting of a third level spell, And six more for twice the level the spell was pushed. MEP cost will be 10.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I have been thinking about a damage reduction. With most forms of damage reduction a rating is assigned and reduced from any damage a character may take. For example is a character has a damage reduction of two. And would normally take five damage, that damage would be reduced to three as the two would be subtracted from the damage assigned.

While I think this is a simple and easy to track mechanic. I find it troublesome. At low levels and lower damage dice, damage rating is powerful. A high damage reduction at lower levels is very powerful. So damage rating has to be watched or it can unbalance a game quickly.

At higher levels lower damage ratings is very underpowered. If damage rating scales with level than the character becomes a Juggernaut and ignores all weaker attacks.

My proposal for an alternate damage reduction is that any natural roll equal or less than the rating is ignored. On a damage reduction of 1 any natural roll of one on a damage die is read as 0, all bonuses to damage are ignored and no damage is taken.

This applies to all damage dice individually. If 3d6 is rolled for damage. And the target has a damage reduction of 2 all die rolled 2 or less is ignored and only the remaining dice are added up. For example:

3D6 damage is rolled, the dice come up 2, 4, and 6. Since the target has a damage reduction of 2, the die that rolled a 2 is removed and only the 4 and 6 are counted resulting in a damage roll of 10.

This does make damage reduction powerful. so each point of damage reduction should really be thought of as x1.5 to x2 as powerful as the last and given very sparingly. But even at low levels damage reduction is still a benefit to higher level characters. And a 4-6 damage reduction is equally super human to low and high level characters.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

I love all the classes in Amazing Adventures, I still feel that a few more could make great additions to the game. Notable a soldier class. Rather than reinventing the wheel I've decided to adapt some classed from Castles and Crusades instead.

Fighters are the obvious choice for a soldier class. With just a few adjustments a fighter is ready for pulp adventure. The only real changes need is clarification of class abilities:

Weapon specialization: This ability includes any weapon available to the soldier, Which is any. Firearms included.

Combat dominance: This ability only applies to melee and fisticuffs.

Extra attack: This ability applies to firearms, melee, and fisticuffs.

That is it, done.

Another optional class I think could be fun is the Hunter. A combat oriented soldier, A pathfinder who stocks the wooded areas. For this ill just adapt the ranger class. With just a few changes to the original C&C ranger class.

Combat Marauder: This ability is now Combat marauder (Wis), A roll must be made first to study an enemy before gaining the damage bonus.

For the abilities of Neutralize poison, Move silent, Scale, Traps, Survival, and Track all work as they do for the ranger. No change.

Favored enemy: will instead be Familiar enemy and applies to dangerous animals and wild creatures in the wild. Knowledge and respect of ones enemy is what gives the Hunter its edge.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Expanded Races looks to be another great little supplement for the castles and crusades system, brought to us by Christina Stiles Presents.

Created by Brian Boostra, Hal Greenburg, & Peter Schroeder

Edited by Christina Stiles

Art and Layout by Peter Bradly

(Disclaimer: Once again, this with a lot of my mini reviews will be done in my usual gushing fanboy style.)

Granite Dwarves is just six pages including cover, Acknowledgements, and OGL, which take up the first two pages. The four remaining pages are dense with information and a very good read.

Pages three and first half of four go into the "fluff" of the Granite dwarf race. Description, personality, racial affinity, and environment are all covered. The information given is colorful and at the same time to the point. The Granite dwarves are fleshed out enough for use as characters and NPCs, plenty of material for players and CKs alike.

Second half of page four starts into the "mechanics" of the race. With a large section devoted to racial traits and abilities. My impression after reading this was that "these are dwarves". These are the dwarves of the deep places I want in my game. From now on these are my dwarves, Ill be using the dwarf writeup in the PH for those that have chosen to live in the human lands and not of "true" dwarven stock.

Rounding out page four is the usual C&C racial information. Languages, size, movement, typical classes, attribute mods, and ability modifiers are all included.

On the fifth page is the "optional" section. As with the Fantasy races unlocked: Kobolds there is six racial traits that can be chosen, each replaces a set racial trait from the "stock" Granite dwarf profile. All six seem well thought out and interesting.

Next to the optional traits there are two examples of Granite dwarves. The two "typical" Granite dwarves are of a level one fighter and a level five cleric. Both could be used for a quick NPC or an adversary.

The last section of of page five is an "encounters with Granite dwarves" entry. This section will be most useful for CKs wanting to run Granite dwarves as NPCs or adversaries. This is the kind of entry you would find in a monster manual.

The sixth and last page is a bonus page of sorts. It seems the Granite dwarves have an adversary, The Frigid, goblins. This page has a full monster write up for these nasty little creatures who love the taste of Granite dwarf flesh. Also located on the page is two items of note., two magic items that seamlessly fit into the setting that would include Granite dwarves.

Christina Stiles Presents & Arcana Creations team up to bring a bundle suitable for tundra terrains.
This bundle includes Expanded Races Granite Dwarves and A Trick on the Tain. For just 5.50$ on RPGnow.comI'm really hoping to see more C&C goods from Christina Stiles Presents.
Now that I have been introduced to adventures from Arcana Creations I will be picking them up, Reviews incoming.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New third party support for Castles and crusades! I'm happy to have in my hands. Fantasy races unlocked, this is the first in the line of additional races for Castles and crusades by Christina Stiles Presents, I for one am not disappointed.

Written and edited by Cristina stiles

Art, Layout, and Production by Peter Bradly

(Disclaimer: This with a lot of my mini reviews will be done in my usual gushing fanboy style.)

Being only four pages including cover, Acknowledgements, and OGL, the real meat and potatoes of this product is just two pages long. But its a good solid two pages.

Starting out the first page the Kobold race is fleshed out, with entries for Description, Society, Personality, Racial affinity, And environment. This "fluff" section feels just right. Its not too wordy or vague. Giving Players and CK's enough to work with to make Kobold players, NPCs, or Monsters.

On the second page is the "mechanics" of the race. This includes 6 racial abilities. Also included in this page are the usual attribute modifiers and class bonuses as found in any C&C race.

What really stands out in this product is the "Optional" section. This is a list of optional racial traits (6 to be exact) that can be traded for one of the 6 racial abilities in the above section. Each one replaces a specific racial trait in the "generic" kobold racial ability list. This adds a lot of variety to the race. Each option can represent a separate subrace, or a bloodline. Or possibly kobolds from different regions of the campaign world. There is a good chance some Kobold variants will make their way into my Amazing Adventures game as well. Change around a few racial abilities and Ive got all sorts of monsters for my next game.

And its only 2$ at Rpgnow.com! With more products for The castles and crusades game to be announced.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

I have never been a fan of Turn undead ability for clerics. Undead fleeing and running around a dungeon just doesn't fit my setting. So here is my alternative I'm going to try. Good clerics can rebuke undead, Calling on the name of his god to smite those abominations of unlife.All undead in the presence of the cleric at the time of the rebuke must bake a save. Only creatures the same HD of the level of the caster are effected. All saves are made at a penalty of the level of the cleric.All undead who fail its save take 1D4+the level of the caster.All undead that fail its save with a roll of 2-3 take 1D4x the level of the caster.All undead that fail its save with a roll of 1 are instantly destroyed.

For those that use the reverse of spells for evil priests can use this spell as a mass heal spell to controlled or summoned undead. Just reverse the damage as damage healed.All undead who make its save its healed 1D4+the level of the caster.All undead that make its save with a natural roll of 18-19 is healed 1D4x the level of the caster.All undead that make its save with a natural roll of 20 are instantly healed to its max HP.

Arcane Dart, Level 0 Magic user
R 150 ft. D instant
With a gesture, the caster sends a Dart of pure arcane power from his finger tip. The damage of the dart increases as the caster gains level. 2 damage for a caster of levels 1-4. 1d4 damage for a caster of levels 5-8. 1d6 damage for a caster of levels 9+. The material component is a small chip of moon wood with the symbol for arcana inscribed into it. Moon wood chip can often be purchased for 20 for a 10 silver. Moon wood is increasingly hard to find in some areas and prices with vary.

Monday, May 20, 2013

A while back I did a very short shout out for the Castle Keepers Guide. I really don't feel like I gave it the attentions it deserves. So I thought I would come back to it and give a further and more in depth overview of this book. (or at least scratch the surface a little deeper.)

The castle keepers guide is the long awaited Game Masters guide for the castles and crusades roleplaying game. Although I myself only got into Castles and crusades a short time before the book came out I could not escape the posts and complaints about how long it took this book to come out. I just wanted to get that out of the way before saying I think this book would be worth the wait, but really should not say it since I was not one of the people who had to wait for it.

The book is a pretty massive tomb, covering a lot of ground. The only GM guide I feel has tried to cover this much in one volume was the 1E AD&D Game masters guide. And at the end of the day I think the CKG just might cover more.

The best way for me to prove this theory of mine is to give you a chapter by chapter and section by section breakdown of the CKG. Give you some idea of exactly how much gaming goodness is in this book.

The book starts off with 8 pages that include table of contents, acknowledgments, and introduction.

PART 1: The Characters.Chapter 1: Expanding characters.
>>Starts right off with attributes, both alternate ways to generate them and alternate modifiers for them.
>>Adding a seventh attribute, Beauty.
>>Extended class levels, This includes rules for leveling characters up to levl24.
>>Expanding races, From vital info, to the under the hood of race creation and variants.

Chapter 2: Magic.
>>This first section focuses on tools of the trade, Spellbooks and components needed for casting.
>>>This includes price lists and tables for determining number of spells found in a tomb.
>>>Also includes a table of costs for holy symbols.
>>Next is an alternate magic system. Its a spell slot system.

Chapter 3: Expanding equipment.
>>First section is a guide for ropleplaying equipment. As well as price lists for commonly needed items.
>>This next section is a carrying capacity system. With cargo capacity for all kinds of transportation.
>>Contains optional rules for maintaining equipment.

Chapter 4: Non-player Characters.
>>A fairly large section with advice on use of NPCs in your game.
>>Rules for hiring henchmen.
>>Hirelings and loyalty ratings.

Part 2: Worlds of Adventure.Chapter 5: Worlds of adventure, World.
>>Planning, developing and exploring your game world. This section would surly be invaluable for those creating their own world. Options for picking everything from weather patterns to technology level. Chapter 6: Worlds of Adventure, City.
>>Economics and urban landscape.
>>Structure and governments.
>>The urban landscape.
>>Culture.

Chapter 13: Expanding the genera.
>>This section is all about taking your game outside of the medieval or fantasy pigeon hole.
>>Information for running C&C in different settings, Ages and styles.
>>Firearms rules. From black powder to laser pistols.
>>Grenade and rocket rules. Rules for mishaps.

Part 3: The Siege Engine.

Chapter 14: Advancing the game.
>>Advice and guidelines to help plan adventures.
>>Advice for setting mood and play style.
>>Setting perimeters for to keep the game with in your chosen play style.

Chapter 15: the Siege Engine.
>> This whole section is an analysis and in depth look at the core mechanics of C&C, the siege engine.
>> Alternate methods and difficulty levels are discussed at length.
>> A lot of options for customizing the siege engine to your own taste.

Chapter 16: Treasure.
>> Guidelines and hints for handling all manor of non-magical treasure. From gold to gems.

Chapter 18: Skill Packages.
>> Secondary skill system. Much like the proficiency system of 1E.
>> Advantages, Abilities much like feats in 3E, But more closely tied to race, class or background rather than a just a laundry list of feats.

Chapter 18: Character Death and Fate.
>>This section goes into the impact of wounds and negative hit points.
>> Divine intervention.
>> The use of Luck points.
>> Use of Hero points.
>> Death & Dying, how to look at it from an PRG perspective.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

What is the Siege Engine that powers Castles and Crusades, Amazing Adventures, Harvesters and other Siege powered games?

This is a post I have wanted to do for a while. Mostly so that I can link to it when trying to explain how the siege engine works and why I like it.

First off the game itself is an OGL based game. That emulates the feel of the first edition of AD&D. As I like to say, Its 1E with 3E math.

Where the siege engine comes in is the choosing of "primes". Some ability scores are prime while others are secondary. 3 primes for humans. 2 for other races to balance racial abilities.

One prime is chosen by your choice of class. Others are chosen by the player. The difficulty of almost any given roll will be based on the ability score it is based on. If the ability is secondary the difficulty base will be 18. If the ability score is primary the base difficulty will be 12.

Beyond mechanics primes/secondary choices are also a great layer of customization. For example a thief with a primary of charisma could be a smooth operating, fast talking, confidence man. While a thief with strength as a prime could be a thug, relying on force and muscle to "get the job done".

Next comes class skills, a lot of people seem to be under he impression that Castles & Crusades does not have skills. Rather Castles and Crusades focuses more on what skills your class excels at, but doesn't limit the character to what they can attempt.

Since a characters level is the measure of prowess in his chosen class, level is added to all rolls for class skills. Also skills are linked to an ability. For example Pick lock (Dex). Helping to quickly identify which class the skill is based on.

Lastly is the complexity level. This is a modifier to the difficulty base. This number is chosen by the CK or based on the action attempted.

Ill give a few example rolls to help show how all this comes together to make a fast and intuitive system.For example, A level 4 Human Rogue with primes of Dex (+1), Con, Char (+1), Secondary of Int, Wis+2, Cha is attempting a few skill rolls.

Attempting to pick a lock: For the Rogue this is a class skill and a Dex based skill, which is prime for the Rogue. The lock is a moderate difficult lock CL 3. So the final difficulty is 15 (12 for prime +CL3).The player would roll a d20+ 4(his level)+1(Dex ability modifier) and try to beat the 15 difficulty.Attempting to track an enemy: For the Rogue this not a class
skill and is a Wis based skill, which is secondary ability for the Rogue. The tracks are fresh and a fairly easy read CL 0. So the final difficulty is 18 (18 for seconary +CL0). The player would roll a d20+ (no level added, not a class skill)+2(Wis ability modifier) and try to beat the 18 difficulty.

Attempting to decipher script: For
the Rogue this a class
skill and is an Int based skill, which is secondary Ability for the Rogue.
The script is somwhat familiar to the Rogue so its fairly easy CL 1. The final
difficulty is 19 (18 for secondary +CL1). The player would roll a d20+ (+4 level added, it is a class skill)+0(Int ability modifier) and try to beat the 19 difficulty.

Also as a note monsters use number of hit die as level and are designated primes as "physical, Mental, Or Both". With stat blocks like that of 1E AD&D. Making most "old school" monsters a snap to use.Another note is that Amazing Adventures is a Pulp Era game that also uses the Siege engine. Instead of the 12/18 split for prime/secondary AA uses a single Difficulty of 15. With a +5 bonus for primary.

Because so much of the game is OGL based. And at the same time draws so much inspiration from previous editions of D&D it is very easy to use what you like from these other games. If you like feats you can add them. Like secondary skills or proficiency slots? use them too.

As far as I can tell Troll lord games was the first to use the OGL to emulate an older style of D&D experience. First by just stripping down the system and using it as a simpler form of D20. These stripped down adventures and modual came out at the same Gen Con that 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons was revealed. Later with the addition of the siege roll and its own players handbook the game took on a life of its own. While others used the OGL to replicate the rules of older editions or D&D, C&C used the OGL to replicate the feel of AD&D while leaving most of the rules clearly d20. And it really has taken on a life of its own. C&C has grown and changed, Their products continue to improve and grow. To many of us C&C is no longer an emulator, But rather a great game in its own right.

List of games that use the Siege Engine:Castles and Crusades: This is the fantasy game with 1E sensibility and 3E math. Amazing Adventures:A pulp era game using a variation of the siege engine.Harvesters: This is a game about anthropomorphic animals. Its uses a race as class vary close to an older edition of D&D. Star Siege: this is a sci-fi game, At its core it is a siege game, But it is not a level based system. Its point buy, from character to gear its all customizable.

I have been putting a bit of thought into Potion creation in BBF. As
with most crafting in RPG I like that to be "off camera action". Things
that happen between games sessions. Sure hunting material or components
can happen in game. Or even be the focus of whole games. But I don't want the rest of the party to be waiting around while the blacksmith character hammers away of horse shoes for half a game session.

I think I like the Idea of the player having a cook book of sorts (not unlike a spell casters spell book). The Enchanter will plan out from his cook book which potions he worked on in the down time. A skill check is made for each, Difficulty based on the complexity of the potion. The enchanter starts the game with a successfully created potions.

If a specific potion is needed in game, and is pivotal to the players strategy or what not cauldron time will still be allowed in game.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Ok maybe I'm going overboard with the BareBones hacks. But they just keep coming to me.

For this variation every attribute has a modifies (halved) version for average skill rolls.So Dex would be noted as DEX 80 / 40.

Skills on the other hand are used for more heroic feats. Skills can only be used if you have a rank in them.
Players start out with 2 ranks to assign at character creation. For every rank a character gets one power in that category. This can be adjusted for power level of the game you want to play.

Speedster powers.
>> Quick to attack: Add rank to initiative.
>> Fast attack: Can make extra attacks. For each rank in speedster with only a -10 accumulative penalty.
>> Run: Each rank doubles run speed. Accumulative.
>>Dodge: Roll to avoid getting hit. Can dodge thrown as melee at rank 1. Dodge bullets like thrown at rank 2. Dodge bullets as melee at rank 4. At rank 5 almost anything is worth a roll.

Specialist powers.
>>Mastery: choose one weapon per rank. +2 initiative, +20 to use, and +2 damage to mastered weapons.
>>Trick shots: Choose one weapon per rank. +30 to that weapon, But only to offset penalties for trick shooting or fancy melee use.
>> Special material: For each rank one weapon is either made of or shoots a special round. Silver, Armor piercing, explosive, Magic, ect, ect.
>>Geared: for every rank the character has a gadget or piece of custom gear.

Blaster powers. (must take blast as first power, all others are dependent)
>>Blast: gains an attack that does 1D of damage per rank in Blaster. Choose 50' beam, 20' fan, or 10' burst.
>>>Array: for each rank in blast the blaster can have separate "type of blast".
>>>Control: for each rank add +10 that can be used to offset penalties for "trick shots".
>>>Special: For each rank add one effect to blast, or blasts if using array.

There are a few power that this system doesn't really cover, like flight and teleporting. Thinking about a generic power category ranks can go into. For each rank a couple of unlinked powers are gained.

I though I would come up with a few pieces of cyberware and equiptment for BB:CP. Just some off the top of my head conversions.

Cybernetic limbs:

Cyberarm:

There are three levels of Cyberarm:
Cyberarms have one upgrade option slot.

Level I is a replacement arm. This is a prosthetic that replaces a missing arm. It has its own BP of 20.

Level II is a reenforced arm. This arm has a ceramic shell and titanium reenforced skeleton. BP of 50 and melee and hand to hand damage is at +3 when wielded in this cyberarm. All Strength tests with this arm are at +20.

Level III is a Tech arm. This arm has many upgrades for doing fine manipulation and improved manual dexterity. BP of 20. Its upgrade slot is used for multi-tools. +10 to any Techi or Meditech roll that requires manual dexterity or fine manipulation.

Level I is a replacement leg. This is a prosthetic that replaces a missing leg. It has its own BP of 30. Level I only has one upgrade slot.

Level II is a reenforced leg. This leg has a ceramic shell and titanium reenforced skeleton. BP of 70 and kicking damage is at +3. All Strength tests with this leg are at +20. Level II has two upgrade slots.

An unwritten rule is perception, I would just assume that each skill is also a unique form of perception. After all a StreetRonin would know that the guy in the suit looks out of place in the bad part of town and would be first to notice. A hacker would notice if a program has been tampered with. A soldier could take a guess where an enemy received his training.

Firearms rules. On this I don't want to add a lot and make a good streamline system complex. Other than the penalty for a second attack is -30 because of recoil.

I picked up this game a while ago. I gave it a read and really liked what I saw. After a small hiatus from gaming I picked it up and gave it a another look over.

This 82 page book is a full system.While a few more monsters and magical items examples would be nice (and some written adventures sure would not hurt). This book is truly a stand alone game.

There is so much to like here, First of all its a very rules lite percentile system. And if you know me I love percentile system, and favor rules lite systems.

Rather than playing a single class, characters have a skills that represent the skills within a single class. For example the Cleric skill. This skill would be rolled on for all rolls that would be covered by the Clerical training or abilities.

The skills are:
Scout
Thief
Warrior
Cleric
Leader
Scholar
Spellcaster

Each skill has a set of sub-skills that each skill covers. For example scout is used for Animal handling, Navigation, Survival, and Tracking.

I find the system to be very elegant. Hard to find a game that can handle so much with such a streamline system. Characters are not pigeon hole'd into strict classes. They still have primary and a secondary class to start they can then grow into the character you want them to become.

On top of everything else there is a random dungeon generator that makes running a dungeon crawl that much easier.

For being less than 100 pages this book covers a lot of ground. Here is a Beginners primer created by Michael Hansen to help new players navigate their way through the BareBones products.
I have made the comment that I don't need another fantasy roleplaying game. For BareBones I think I have to make the exception.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

After reading through the Mutants and masterminds 3E players book, I was reminded how this game played using a single d20. Which is not new to me. I ran M&M 2E and True20 before that.

So I got thinking. Why couldn't I do the same with Castles and Crusades or Amazing Adventures? After all the core of the Siege system is a single d20 roll. The main use any other die roll is variable damage.

So I started thinking. if I was to use just a d20 to run C&C and AA how would I do it?

I would make all damage equal to the average of a the die roll. 2 for d4, 3 for d6, 4 for d8, 5 for d10, and 6 for d12. And bonus would still be added. So d6+2 would be 5.

On any roll to hit that is 5 greater than the roll needed the damage would instead be maximum damage. 4 on a d4 or 6 on a d6...ect ect.

On a natural 20 damage will be 1.5 of max damage. 6 on a d4, 9 on a d6, 12 on a d8..ect, ect.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

This full arm gauntlet has a small sliver of plutonium powering it, The plutonium has been bombarded with gamma rays. When used it sends out a green gamma bolt of radiation. The bolt is wild and resembles green lightning. (As the lv3 lightning bolt spell, This Item is a lv4 build, As a free action a light spell can be uses as a "lower setting" (free) use)